corruption

Paul Kane of Roll Call (subscription req'd) writes up something that has been on my mind all weekend: Just how long did these illegal activities go on while these staffers were in Tom DeLay's office paid for by our tax dollars? As one reader emailed, will the "Sargeant Schultz defense" -- "I saw nothing!" -- work for Tom DeLay? Not very credible, particularly with Ed Buckham's plea coming next, and with all the fundraising lines in and out of DeLay's committees.

I'll admit it. My kids have a hard time understanding exactly what I do for a living. They know I sit in front of a computer, talk on the phone a lot, and do something about Tom DeLay, but they have a hard time understanding that, as compared to their friends parents who are teachers, lawyers, etc. Maybe this poem by Hart Seely, which appeared in the New York Times, can help?

Norm Ornstein has a column in Roll Call (subscription only). With all the scandals involving former Tom DeLay staffers (Ed Buckham, Tony Rudy, Michael Scanlon -- who else?), you'd have to come up with one of two explanations for DeLay's role, according to Ornstein:

Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi impersonated a lobbyist and gained entry into Sen. Conrad Burns' birthday fundraiser -- and then wrote about it!

Taibbi pretends he's the lobbyist for a Russian oil company wanting to drill for oil in the Grand Canyon. It's hilarious. You'll laugh, and then you'll cry when you think about the fact that this is how our democracy works.

A grand jury in Virginia has subpoenaed a Virginia law firm where one of the daughters of Rep. Jefferson (LA-02) once worked. Also, a judge has moved the sentencing of a former congressional aide, Brett Pffefer, from March till May (the aid pled guilty to two felony charges, including aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes).

The Houston Chronicle has a story on how DeLay's ties to Abramoff, Scanlon, and his own indictments are hanging over him like a black cloud and how the scandals are affecting his campaign to retain his TX-22 seat.

We just sent this email (below the fold) out to our list of activists -- can you believe that Katherine Harris is trying to wash away her legacy with $10 million? Can you believe that she thinks people will forget that she abandoned the principle of oneperson, one vote in 2000? That somehow spending $10 million makes it okay to have taken illegal campaign contributions. Our petition is here.

Tom DeLay's ARMPAC received an inquiry from the FEC on March, 8, 2006, asking them to clarify if they charged the "usual and normal" amount for the transfer of ARMPAC's mailing list to DeLay's congressional campaign committee. The campaign was charged $3,138.87 for the mailing list.